Blog Post

360 Feedback Programs in Organizations 2017

By: Marcie LevinePublished: 11/10/2017

Each year
SurveyConnect collects and reports out on data that we hope is useful to our
clients and friends. In 2017, as in previous years, we decided to focus our
questions on the 360 process – how many employees are asked to participate and
why, as well as what happens with the data once it is collected. In this way,
we can understand the objectives and uses of the 360-degree feedback process at
this point in time, and see how answers have changed over past years. 102 people responded to the questionnaire
this year.

Section I: The Individual 360 Process

When asked “What
is the primary purpose of your 360 program?” most respondents said that they
consider the 360 program a development tool:

360s are split between voluntary (36%),
required (14%), and a combination of purposes (50%).

When asked “How often does 360-degree feedback get delivered in the following
ways,” the responses showed

Formal Action Planning:

oParticipants are generally asked to complete a
Formal Action Plan - only 13% of respondents in 2017 said that participants are not asked to complete a plan.

oAction Plans have varied effectiveness, with 9%
saying that they are Highly Effective, and 4% saying they were Not Effective or
Rarely Effective. 57% said that the
plans are Usually Effective or Highly Effective, and 40% Sometimes Effective.

oComments from open-ended questions suggest:

§Formal action plans are most effective if
there is motivation from the participant and follow-up from both the
participant and their manager

§Accountability is key

Section II: 360s from an
Organizational Point of View

360 program feedback feeds into other HR
organizational programs (succession-planning, mentoring and/or talent
management) in about 60% of respondent organizations.

Demographic or aggregate data is only used in
about 34% of the organizations.

Sample comments from open-ended questions
include:

oI think the supervisors struggle
with holding the employee accountable for the action plan.

oI believe they are effective
because of the 360 factor... more than just the immediate supervisors opinion
of the employee’s performance. We use action (or what we refer to as 'start,
stop, continue') plans in many of our training and development programs. They
are effective in that you have given participants tools to use and they develop
a plan of action with their coach to use the tools in some way. The action plan
also serves the purpose of solidifying the learning before the participant
leaves the room.

oOnce discussed with feedback and
put in writing there is more accountability. Success rate increases with
written commitments.

oThey are effective when/if the
employee sees value in 360 feedback process and sees 360 as developmental tool
and makes action planning a priority. In addition, the plans are successful
when focused on 1-2 key areas. The plans are less effective when the individual
attempts to take on too much.

oThey are effective when we connect
them to the job and involve the direct supervisor.

Section III: 360s Going Forward

The number of participants going
through a 360 process is anticipated to grow about 20% from 2016 to 2017, and
then stay flat from 2017 to 2018. This
growth from 2016 to 2017 is larger than normal, but no anticipated growth from
2017 to 2018 is somewhat of a surprise (we’ve always seen growth year-on-year,
so it will be interesting to see what the data shows next year!).

Conclusions

Organizations deploy 360s as a valuable tool
for in-house analysis to understand current performance in important
organizational competencies. They are
also used to help participants increase strengths as well as improve
performance in appropriate areas. The primary use of 360-degree feedback
programs is for development purposes, and most organizations either request or
require a Formal Action Plan. These
Action Plans are most effective if there is motivation from the participant and
follow-up from the participant, their manager, and the organization.

360-degree program feedback is used in other
HR organizational programs such as succession-planning, mentoring and/or talent
management in a predominance of respondent organizations. While the 360-degree program strategy fits
into the overall performance management of the organization on an individual
level, there is more room for the analysis and use of 360-degree demographic
data and trends to understand organizational issues, strengths, and gaps.

When asked how 360s need to evolve
to adapt to the changing work environment, the top three responses were:

oEmployees at all levels should
receive this type of feedback,

oShorter assessments on a more
frequent basis need to be implemented, and

oHave employees drive the process
themselves.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to talk about
360s or other employee surveys, please contact me at:

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SurveyConnect, Inc.

The SurveyConnect Team offers complete support for every phase of 360 survey design, implementation, and analysis. From interim project support to fully outsourced solutions, we provide the services to ensure quality results throughout the survey process. Our expertise in data collection and easy-to-generate reports helps our customers maximize the results from their assessments and surveys.